the.amanda.sewell

So for mothers day, I told M the thing that I would like most is to be able to go get my haircut and get a pedicure, kid free, and then breakfast in bed on Sunday morning. SO, this morning I went and got a much needed haircut, dry and style, and a pedicure with salt scrub and pumice stone scrub. I got my hair cut with long layers and I absolutely LOVE it! I have never done this before and I love how light my head feels. Also, my hair actually fits in normal size pony tail holders now, which is amazing since it has never been able to do that before because it is SO thick!!! It was BLISS! I felt like a new woman when I was done. I went home and got the family and we went out shopping -- I got some new mary jane crocs for my trip to Disneyland (we leave Wednesday) and a couple things at Recollections (because how could I resist) and then we got Jamba juice (my addiction) and went home. I had a wonderful day! I am so excited to go on vacation. I need to pack still, but that is wh...

I absolutely LOVE this set and I am saddened by the fact that it is retiring, but then again, what sets aren't retiring this catalog??? Seriously! SHEESH! Aw well, I guess it will make room for the new sets that I will soon love. Because it is Friday, and because it is close to Mothers Day, which we all know is the most important day of the year, other than Feb 9th, my birthday, I thought I would make some cards for all the moms in my family. I made them for my mother-in-law, my mom, and my sister-in-laws that have children. I thought that it would be nice to send them a card. I had a lot of fun making them. The card is just crayon resist. Very simple to do, but looks awesome when it is done. Then I just sponged the color over. It is just regular whisper white cardstock. I tried to keep the card simple so that I could make a lot, but I think it is really cute. Sentiment is from All Year Cheer II (also retiring - shock me, shock me, shock me). Also, I thought I would sha...

So I decided to take part in the Amuse challenges even though I don't have any Amuse stamps as of yet . . . (I ordered some from my friend Jody and she said they are hopefully going postal today -- she got them in yesterday). Anyway, I really liked the idea of trying to stamp without using black ink. SO, I got to work and these are the pretties I came up with. This first one is done using SU's Polka Dots and Petals. I had seen lots of cards doing acetate overlays (I think it was a challenge last week to use acetate on your cards -- for splitcoast), so I decided to try it. I used my white craft ink to stamp assorted flowers on the acetate. (This took forever to dry -- in fact, they are still not completely dry -- think I will use my white staz on next time). The background layer is stamped in pink passion, pretty in pink, cameo coral and timber brown staz on. The sheet of acetate is held on with those chocolate brown brads, by All My Memories. The sentiment is by Stampend...

I absolutely love this little cow and since I bought her, I have had this idea in my head to make a little lemonade card to send to a friend. The colors I chose (which are kind of hard to see because it did not photograph well), are certainly celery, yo yo yellow and pink passion. I watercolored the cow in using the tops of my ink pads and an aquapainter pen. The scalloped piece is glossy paper, colored on with a white crayon to create resist, and then sponged colors on top. The word "sweet" from SU's "Sweet Spot" was stamped randomly across the bottom of the card in pink passion. The celery ribbon was purchased at Michaels. The pink ribbon on the inside with stitching is also from there, but was one of those little spool ones. The yellow ribbon came from there too, but was one of their cheaper kinds of ribbon. The ribbons at the top are attached to a tag on the inside. The tag is stamped with a sentiment from SU! I thought the tag could serve as a perf...

This recipe comes from a book called "Express Aisle Gourmet" by Bill Dertouzos. It looked really appetizing to me and has less than 12 ingredients which is just awesome. Plus, I love salmon! YUM! Let me know what you think. Salmon with Avocado and Mango Salsa Ingredients: 2 6oz salmon fillets 1 tbsp canola oil 1 cup of diced mango chunks (canned or fresh) 1/2 cup diced red onions 1 ripe avocado (diced) 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper to taste Directions: Preheat oven to 300F. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Heat canola oil in an ovenproof skillet. Add salmon and cook on each side for 2 minutes. Place skillet in the oven and bake for 6-7 minutes. In a large bown, combine mangoes, onions, and avocado. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle with blasamic vinegar and olive oil, toss well. Divide salmon on two plates and place a scoop of salsa over the top. ENJOY!

Okay, just kidding, I am not in tears over these creations, I just had a lot of fun playin g with some tissue. Last week on Splitcoast, the technique lovers challenge ( TLC114 - Mulberry Ba tik ) looked cool to me and I just had to try it out. Of course, I went looking through my *stash* a nd I was out of mulberry paper. SO, I decided to just try the technique with some plain old white tissue paper and while it does not quite have as many veins and such as the mulberry, I think they turned out pretty. The first card I tried to make the embossing work, but I think I did too thin lined images and it turned out not really looking all that great, but the colors in the tissue looked pretty nice so I went looking in my *stash* again and found this awesome big flower and a silver metal circle thingy (from a hardware store I think) and I thought that they might work. I layered the rose cardstock on th cameo coral and then on white. The rose cardstock has a filligree pattern dry embossed o...

I have been meaning to post this forever because seriously I just got so behind in my blogging with all the stuff I have been up to . . . but . . . I was tagged by not one, but three lovely stamping friends (Thanks Lauri , Tara , and Terri ) So, here goes -- 7 random things about me: 1) I am a Canadian citizen living in the USA. 2) I am highly (I break out in hives) allergic to dust mites (which is why it makes total sense that I live in the desert - NOT! -- actually, there are supposedly less mites here) 3) I have my ears pierced 4) I prefer brads over eyelets but if I must use eyelets, I try to only use SU ones because they are softer and easier to open 5) My most used stamp tool is my monoadhesive, followed closely by my paper cutter and white gelly roll pen *grins* 6) I have two drawers full of stuff "to be altered" but I have yet to do it. I am such a hoarder. My goal is to use up most of that by the time I move. 7) I drive a silver Honda Odyssey, but I have a s...